Free flu shots to be available to pregnant women & 65+

Free flu shots to be available to pregnant women and
those 65 years and older in Unichem & Life
pharmacies

16 March 2017, AUCKLAND,
NZ: For the first time, pregnant women and people
aged 65 and older will have access to free flu vaccinations
at selected Unichem & Life community pharmacies across New
Zealand from April 1, following an announcement from
Pharmac.

Green Cross Health, the group behind Unichem,
Life Pharmacy and The Doctors medical centres, has welcomed
the move to improve access to flu vaccines for New Zealand
communities.

Green Cross Health Group Manager,
Professional Services, Alison Van Wyk says, “We’re
always supportive of improving convenient access to health
care and advice for everyone in New Zealand and Pharmac’s
latest announcement will enable us to work alongside our
medical colleagues to better protect the most vulnerable
people in our communities from the flu.”

Influenza,
commonly called the flu, can be a serious illness to people
of all ages. Over 1.2 million New Zealanders are vaccinated
annually and in 2016, figures showed 67 per cent of over 65
year olds and 18 per cent of pregnant women received a flu
vaccination [1].

“There remains a large proportion of
New Zealanders who are not getting the flu vaccination and
who could benefit from accessing it.

“Making the
vaccination free in pharmacy to those most at risk due to
age and pregnancy adds another layer of protection,” Van
Wyk says. “People with certain chronic medical conditions
such as asthma and some cardiovascular conditions should
continue to access the vaccine free from their local medical
centre or GP and will be referred by their
pharmacist.”

Pharmacists have access to the Ministry of
Health Immunise Now web portal so that the details of
those people who receive the free flu vaccine in pharmacy
are made available to their GP.

“This is an important
step forward in ensuring a collaborative approach among the
primary health care teams in our communities. We applaud the
work that has been done by the Ministry of Health to
facilitate pharmacist access to the free flu vaccine
programme,” Van Wyk says.

Since 2011, a number of
vaccines have been reclassified so they can be administered
by a pharmacist who is meeting the Ministry of Health’s
immunisation standards.

Pharmacists are subject to the
same immunisation and quality standards as other vaccinators
in order to deliver this service. Currently there are 300
pharmacist vaccinators working in around 200 Unichem and
Life Pharmacies throughout New Zealand.

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